1. What is your typical daily routine/schedule like?

I wrote a post a few months ago about a day in our life, and honestly, it's still pretty much the same as then.  Max and I are crawling out of bed around 545.  I send him out the door with his lunch, plenty of coffee, and a kiss by 615.  I then workout or spend some time reading/journaling before the kids wake up.  They are up around 645 (thanks to daylight savings time…they used to sleep until 730), and I get them changed/dressed before figuring breakfast out.  We eat our breakfast, and I gratefully sip my hot coffee.  After breakfast, the kids usually beg for a movie/TV show, so they watch about an hour of something.  Evie plays for a bit before taking her first nap around 900.  Once L & Z finish their TV time, we pull out legos or markers or puzzles, or we might go ride bikes in front of the house.  Evie is up from her nap around 1030, and we either keep playing inside, or we walk to the park.  If we have the car, we might do some errands in the morning, but most of the time, Max takes the vehicle to class each day, so we stick around the neighborhood.  

You can usually find us back in the kitchen around 1130, finding something for lunch.  1230, we are heading upstairs to get diapers changed and the kids lay down for naps.  Most days, they sleep for a few hours, and I get a little quiet time - typically, I do a few household tasks (aka "not fun things") and then I treat myself to reading blogs or journaling or baking or sitting and staring at the wall (aka "fun things!").  Kids are awake between 230 and 300, so we find a snack and play for awhile - if it's nice and there isn't much dinner prep, we are outside or walking to the park.  Some days Max gets home around 4, and other days he's not walking in the door until closer to 6.  I get dinner done while the kids play/get themselves into trouble, and we are all eating together when Max is home.  If Max doesn't have too much homework, he'll play with the kids after dinner for a bit - this usually involves wrestling/much tickling/running around.  If he has a bunch of homework, I'll entertain them a bit before bath/bedtime.  We do baths every other night, and then put PJ's on/brush teeth/read stories/pray/sing songs before turning out the lights just after 700.  Most nights, I am shutting their door behind me and letting out a big breath - it's usually felt like a long day at this point!!!

I have a few things I get done once the kids are in bed - making Max a lunch for the next day, prepping the coffeepot to "auto"-brew in the morning, and cleaning up the kitchen/picking up the house.  For me, it helps so much knowing I am going to bed with a clean kitchen - and helps me wake up starting the day out fresh.  Once those things are done, I might brew a cup of tea and catch up on a show, or catch up on emails, or I might just putz online a bit.  Max is wrapping his homework up around 900 most nights, and we are usually fast asleep by 1000.  

2. What things do you do weekly/monthly in addition to daily?

Eliana has a dance class one afternoon a week - she LOVES going to that!  I walk the kids down to a KinderJam class every Friday morning at the neighborhood community center.  I get to the commissary (grocery store) once a week for shopping - this is usually on Wednesdays when we already have the car for dance - and it's always an adventure with 3 little ones!  Friday evening is typically small group nights for Max & I (we swap with a neighbor-friend, so I watch her kids some evenings, and she watches ours for our small group evenings).  And Sunday morning is church.  One night a month is reserved for going over the budget, or "fight night", as Max lovingly refers to it, haha! We end up having game nights a few Saturdays out of the month - this usually involves lots of snacks, some beer, and getting riled up over Settlers of Catan!!  Oh, and I have lots of Skype dates with family/friends scattered throughout the month.  Finally, Max has duty (which is a 24-hour thing…but sometimes turns longer if he has class the next day…)) a few times a month.  

3. How does your spouse's schedule impact your daily routine?

Max is busy with school and Marine duties most of the time, and his schedule is pretty much the same every day.  He leaves about the same time, and gets home about the same time, then needs to get 2-3 hours of studying in at night.  I feel like we've found a pretty good rhythm with him being gone/busy most of the time.  His schedule doesn't have much impact on our daily routine, as much as it just intertwines with our day.

I've had to learn to not be so dependent on his help when he is home - it's not that he isn't helpful (because he certainly is!), but that he has to go upstairs every night to study.  It's been a hard transition for me - knowing that when he comes home, he isn't "done" for the day…I don't always get a "break", and that has made me work to figure out ways to create little breaks for myself in the day (like during nap time or early in the morning, or right after the kids go to bed).  I know I need a little downtime/alone time for me to function at my best, so I've had to seek ways to carve out those moments, and learn to be content dealing with the kids day and night, without much extra help.  Max and I are also working on finding times to have us time - weekends are great, but we are trying to find little moments to reconnect during the week.

4. How do you balance having a clean home and making memories with your children?

The first thought that came to my mind was that I make them clean the house with me, hahaha!  It's never too early to hand them a rag and tell them to go wipe things down.  In fact, my kids LOVE to help me clean the house.  They think it's this awesome game to walk around with their rags and wipe down their toys, the table, the bookcase, etc.  We get to make memories and clean the house!  

I guess that is one way I try to balance the house and memory department, but I also try to get little bits of housework accomplished throughout the day, so that it doesn't pile up into a huge mountain that takes me hours to deal with.  This means we can be playing or going to the park, but I can throw a load of laundry in before we do so, or I can wipe the kitchen down after breakfast, while the kids are pulling out their puzzles.  I also have them help me with picking up the toys.  When we really get playing with our toys, it looks like a tornado has gone off in the house.  We usually pick up the house before naps, and again before bedtime.  This helps me keep a more peaceful house - and I feel it teaches them to be responsible for what they are playing with.  It doesn't always happen this way - sometimes before bed, I just need to get them in bed, you know?  And then I pick up the toys once they are asleep, but for the most part, I have them help me.

My house may never be all cleaned at once, but it gets done in little pieces throughout each week - this allows me to have more time with the kids or having "me" time, and still allows for a clean home!